More thoughts on Wayne...
I completely see both sides of the argument.
Different people are going to have different criteria in terms of what defines the best coach. If you're like me, it comes down to premiership tallies, and in the history of the competition, there is no greater coach than Bennett.
However, some would point out that some very good coaches such as Graham Murray and Brian Smith never won a premiership yet coaches like Hagan & Stuart were lucky to win one, does that make them better coaches? In my view no but different story for another time.
Then you have fans who judge in terms of the style and tactics they introduce, others in terms of how many players improved under their tenure etc etc.
Basically whatever criteria you have, just roll with it. It's cool but don't go ahead and shove it down another persons throat because it gets boring if we all agree.
Now that I've got that kum-by-ya sentiment out of the way.
Wayne certainly is guilty of a lot of things that have been levelled at Hook. I've seen people say Bennett would never sign a player like Lowrie. Were these same people watching in 2001 when a player by the name of Darren Burns played the majority of the games? Heck, some of our best players started off as plodders - Kevin Campion, Harvey Howard anyone? Heck, for those who only know of the thread, you do realise Paul Carige spent a fair time at Brisbane too, right?
As for his tenures at other clubs post Brisbane...
Dragons - Was great. Took a complacent side stuck in a transitional phase and turned them into the most consistent club for three seasons. The gameplan seemed tailored made and played around their strengths which included the second man play from Boyd and Soward's magnificent kicking game.
Knights - Took his gameplan and tried to fit it on the Knights and it just never worked for any extended period of time. For me, he brought in Boyd, so that was half his offence covered, decided Mullen was his Soward, Kidley was his Hornby, Buderus was his Priddis, Snowden was his Weyman and when he couldn't create a Scott or Smith, he just bought them over and picked up whatever scraps he could get his hands on.
2014 was a rough year and it's obviously hurt the side, but his stint was a failure and I believe all the excuses being made are just that. Brisbane had their share of bad fortune too, yet you don't see many people rushing to Hook's aid.
In saying that, I hope he takes Brisbane to their 7th premiership. I look forward to see what he makes of the roster and hope we can get some more closure on Hook's tenure. I'm sure we'll hear more about it in the coming weeks but in the mean time, I'd love to see Hook go out on a high. As we all saw today, the guy has plenty of class and he's never done anything to disgrace this club.
